The new tendency in active Safety Technologies

Gasgoo.com: Please briefly describe the latest technologies that Delphi has in Active Safety area. Among those technologies, how many have been transferred into the China market? What kind of vehicles is using Active Safety Technologies in China?

Jungian Shen :Delphi is a leading supplier of Active Safety Technologies globally. Its customers include OEMs in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. Delphi is the world’s first company to commercially introduce the Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) system into vehicle platforms. Up until now, Delphi has been providing more than 100K ACC systems, and more than 670K Radar systems. Delphi’s ACC system has been applied to more than 20 vehicle platforms. Besides ACC, Delphi’s Active Safety products also include: Lane Departure Warning （LDW）， Active Night Vision (ANV), Side Blind Zone Detection and Warning, Forward Collision Warning (FCW), PreCrash Sensing (PCS), ESR Radar and RVC Parking Guidance System.

Since 2005, Delphi has been promoting the Active Safety products in China market. The China Technical Center in Shanghai has been providing strong technical supports and application services to China market. All the technologies and products mentioned above have been introduced into the China market. The team responsible for Active Safety technology development and application in China Technical Center has been working with the China OEMs and developing productions of ACC, LDW, ANV, FCW, PCS, ESR Radar and RVC systems. In the near future, Chinese consumers will be able to drive a vehicle equipped with Delphi’s Active Safety technology.

One of the hot topics for Active Safety these days is the cost. Currently, most Active Safety technologies apply to C-class and some B-class vehicles. With more and more consumers realizing the importance of vehicle safety, Active Safety products will become more and more popular in China. The cost of Active Safety will drop as the volume goes up. It is expected that in the near future, Active Safety products will be installed on all-class vehicles.

Gasgoo.com: What is the technology trend for vehicle Active Safety? Is it an integration safety system?

Jungian Shen :The technology trend for Active Safety is the function integration. First, multiple Active Safety functions will be integrated into the same hardware platform. For example, Delphi’s Electronically Scanning Radar (ESR) integrates the long range and mid-range scanning functions. One ESR is equivalent to two single radars providing different range and angle coverage. System functions such as ACC, FCW and PCS can also be integrated into the ESR hardware platform. The OEMs can choose part or all of the system functions based on their needs. Function integration greatly reduces the cost of each function. It also reduces the space needed in the vehicle for installing each single function onto the vehicle.

The second trend is the integration of Passive and Active Safety. Through data fusion, Active Safety and Passive Safety can be effectively integrated to provide much better safety performance for seatbelts and airbags.

Gasgoo.com: We know that TRW has a dedicated innovation group to develop cost optimized products for China market. Delphi is also developing affordable technologies in Technical Center India. Delphi has developed the first of its kind in the automotive industry of Electronically Scanning Radar ESR with very reasonable price.

What kind of additional development does Delphi do before those world leading-edge technologies are applied to China market in order to adapt to road/traffic conditions, consumer requirements in China and the cost demands from local OEMs? Please give an example.

Jungian Shen :Delphi has always been working on optimizing the cost of Active Safety technologies and products to provide China market with high quality and affordable products. Delphi has done the following to promote the Active Safety technologies in China:

1. Develop products that adapt to China market needs. Delphi has done a lot of Active Safety market investigation and surveys in China. Based on the investigation, Delphi has reconfigured some existing products to fit the China market needs. Delphi has also developed several new Active Safety products to make sure that the function and cost configurations are optimized.

2. Delphi has invested a lot to develop the local R&D capabilities in China. There are currently more than 700 local engineers in China Technical Center working on product development and technical support. Those local Delphi engineers provide the local OEMs with products that fit local needs, fast and cost effective technical supports.

3. Engineers in China Technical Center have conducted a lot of vehicle level tests and data logging. Based on the analysis of the test results, engineers have adjusted the performance and parameter settings on several Active Safety products in China. For example, engineers have adjusted the algorithm and parameter settings for ACC Stop&Go system in order to make the system work comfortably for drivers in China, who have significantly different driving habits as compared to drivers in other countries.